According to recently released police documents obtained by ABC News, Brian Hickerson, the former boyfriend of actress Hayden Panettiere, was reportedly on-site at the time of her passing.
Alongside his brother Zach, Hickerson was at Panettiere’s South Carolina apartment when the tragic event unfolded, as detailed in a report from authorities in Greenville, South Carolina.
The report further revealed that Hickerson presented authorities with a “bag of medication” purportedly prescribed to Panettiere.
Emergency responders discovered Panettiere experiencing cardiac arrest at the Greenville residence on a Sunday afternoon, tragically pronouncing her dead about 40 minutes later.
According to the police report provided by the Greenville City Police Department, an officer was dispatched to a location on Easley Bridge Road in response to an EMS call regarding an unresponsive individual.
“The patient did not seem to have any obvious physical reasons to be unresponsive,” the officer wrote in the report.
“EMS attempted to perform life saving methods for an extended amount of time before they called a time of death. This was 1431 hours,” the report continued.
The officer then wrote in the report that they spoke with Brian Hickerson and his brother, Zach Hickerson, who was also on scene, while EMS “was working on the patient.”
Zach Hickerson described Panettiere as his brother’s girlfriend.
“I observed Zach to be very emotional while EMS were working on Hayden,” the officer wrote. “Brian did not become emotional until EMS declared her officially deceased. Medic 24 and S4 were on scene performing life saving measures.”
The officer added in the report that Brian Hickerson showed them the bag of medication that Panettiere was taking.
An autopsy, which was completed on Monday, found no signs of trauma, and a cause of death is still undetermined.
Panettiere was known for her roles in “Heroes,” “Nashville,” “Remember the Titans” and more. She was 36 years old and would have turned 37 this Friday.
Panettiere had been open about her battles with substance abuse and postpartum depression.
Her death came just days after an L.A. County judge denied Hickerson’s attempts to dismiss and reduce his past felony